The Blacksmith's Heart
by jimboccp2004
Summary: This is the story of the Blacksmith Sazanami as he hunts down the evil thief Gosunkugi
1. The Murder and The 4 Devils

Touichi sat in his soft wooden chair with his gloved right hand slowly sliding along the dull side of the Katana he had just finished making. "Wow this may actually be the best Katana I have ever created." He said out loud as he walked over to the sheath that he had made especially for the katana that he had just finished. He gently slid the sword in the sheath and with delicate movements he placed it against the western wall of his hut. Right as he turned to his kitchen to ruffle something up for dinner he heard a knock on his door. Not wanting to be rude he quickly strode over to the door and opened it with such a quick movement that it almost slammed into the wall of the hut perpendicular to it. Outside was a man about 6 feet 5 inches with a sheath hanging from his belt? As soon as he saw the sheath he also saw that it had nothing to hold. "Hello sir I can see by your sheath that you need a Katana made." The man looked up from the paper he was reading and nodded his head before speaking, "You know Touichi I heard that you were one of the best blacksmiths in the area. I would like you to make me a Katana and I want you to deliver it to my house on the eve of this year's Harvest Festival." When he was finished speaking he handed Touichi a slip of paper with the dimensions of the sword. Touichi turned to invite the man in for dinner but he was gone.

The next day Touichi worked very diligently on the Katana. He first took a stick of metal that was 4 feet long and stuck into a furnace on the east end of his hut. For 20 minutes he let it burn before he saw that the outer layer of the metal had become lose because of the fire. He quickly but carefully walked over to an anvil that was in the middle of the room and placed the hot end on the anvil. He then took a large mallet and slammed into the metal knocking lose pieces of metal off and it began to become more silver in appearance like that of a sword should be. He then placed it in water that cooled it down quickly and then with a swift movement he thrust it on the table and placed an adhesive substance on the end of the sword and slid the handle on to the metal. He waited for about 2 hours. He made himself dinner and took an hour long nap while waiting for the adhesive to dry. When finally the 2 hours were up he went over and grabbed the sword. Now that is was in the shape a sword should be he had to sharpen it. He grabbed his huge wet stone like and slid the sword up and down along the stone for about 15 minutes. Without any hesitation he gently touched the tip of the sword and felt a little sting before feeling a warm liquid drip down his finger. He then in a quick movement flipped the sword in the air caught with his left hand flipped it to the side causing it to spin over his left hand and into his right before swinging it in another speedy movement which resulted in him cutting the wick off one of the candles that rested on his dining table. He then flipped it again caught it behind his back and ran over to where the sheath was he had made for his last Katana. Since his customer was a wealthier one he decided to give him the nicest sheath he had in his collection. He flipped the sword in the air grabbed the sheath and then as soon as the sword came flying down he caught it with the sheath. 'I still have game." He thought to himself.

He began the journey to the village where the man lived who had placed the order for the Katana he had just finished making. It took him a day to make it to the village. As he approached the village he saw fireworks fly into the sky and knew that he had arrived on the eve of the festival. He was happy to finally be in a place that was crowded with people as opposed to living in a small house that was on the border of 2 countries. When he got to the village he asked the first person he saw where his customer's house was. He realized that he didn't know the man's name but the woman seeing the sword knew who Touichi was looking for. She pointed to a huge mansion at the end of the main street of the village and he walked through the crowd which seemed to be parting for him. He finally got to the gate of the house and saw that it was open. He walked up the path that lead straight to the house. When he was about 100 yards from the house he saw a shadow burst through the front door and dart for the side gate of the house. He decided it was probably just some guy running to get somewhere he needed to go.

He walked through the front door slowly without any consideration or thought of knocking. He continued down the main hallway of the house with his hand on the hilt of the katana. He felt himself step into something that was warm and sticky. He bent down and found himself kneeling in more of the liquid. . He then stuck his index finger in it and slid it along the floor before bringing it up to his nose and sniffing it before sticking it his mouth. "Ooh this is blood!" He yelled. He was not afraid of blood it was just the shock of finding the dead body of a man he had just seen not even more then a day ago laying dead in front of him. He then lit a candle that was hanging from the wall and saw 2 more dead bodies in front of him. One was that of a 10 year old girl and the other was that of a beautiful blond 35 year old woman. He then felt the body warmth of a man behind him and he swung around with his sword but the man easily evaded it. The man did not want to fight because if he took the time to fight he would be captured so he took off. Touichi turned to run for help but he was too late.

5 men standing with swords were standing there poised for an attack that Touichi knew was about to come. "Why are you staring at me like that I did not commit this murder." Argued Touichi but he knew there was no hope for him. "Touichi the Blacksmith you are under arrest for the murder of this fine man and his family." Touichi nodded his head in acknowledgement and then as quickly as he rose his head up he grabbed the hilt of his sword swung it out so that the dull side was facing away from him and he charged at the men hitting one right across the head before turning and stopping and another one's blow. He kicked up at the man that he heard coming up from behind him and the kick knocked the man back into the wall. He then blocked another man's attack and kicked the other swordsman in the stomach knocking him into another wall. 3 of the 5 men were now down for the count. He blocked the 4th man's attack before swinging around to block an attack from the 5th man. He sheathed his sword and with a using a palm shot with both hands knocked the 4th and 5th men back causing them to lose the grip on their swords and as they flew into the air and he caught each one in one of his hands. He then slammed the swords into the wooden wall of the hallway and ran past the 2 men slamming them in the heads with his fist. He ran out the front door and down the main street.

He fled from the town managing to escape from the squad of 50 villagers that were coming after him. When he was 100 yards from the village he decided to rename himself Sazanami. The first day of his journey was a hard and stressful one. Never had he had to travel so far in just one day. He also knew that if he slowed down he would be caught by the villagers that he was fleeing from. He came to a fork in the road. One had in arrow pointing to Land of Wind and the other was pointing to the Land of Fire. He decided to take the path to the Land of Fire because he had heard about a dark youth with evil sand powers that lived in the Hidden Sand Village which was located in the land of Wind. After a week of traveling he came to a village that was very friendly to him. Apparently what he had heard about one village not getting involved in the affairs of other villages was true. He walked into a bar that was close to the outskirts of the village and ordered himself a scotch. As he was waiting for the alcoholic nectar of the gods to get to him a poster caught his view from the corner of his eyes and then he walked over to the wall were the poster was hanging up and saw a picture of a grey bearded man with long black hair who was wearing a black cap. The message under it read.

**_This is the dangerous thief Gosunkugi_**

_** He is the terror of Stone Country**_

_**Reward: 1,000,000 Yen **_

_**PS If you run into him do not try to engage him he is very dangerous**_

He looked with a serious look on his face he ripped the poster of the man and stuck it in the pocket of his kimono before walking back to the bar where his drink was ready. "Hey bar tender. I want you to be my witness as I say that I Sazanami formerly Touichi the Black Smith am going to kill that son of bitch Gosunkugi." "Yeah whatever dude now pay up." Sazanami grabbed some of the yen out of his pocket that he had gotten as a down payment for the last sword he had created and gave it the bar tender. He then finished the glass of scotch off in one swig and walked out of the bar leaving the bar tender a tip of 200 yen. The bar tender seeing this called Sazanami back. "Hey dude sorry for my rude behavior but I just want to say that you will die if you try to take the thief on in one on one combat." He said as he cleaned out the glass, "Also you better watch out for Gatsu because he is also after the thief." With that he went back to his job and Sazanami left the bar.

Sazanami left the village and came upon a forest that the path he was following lead into. He decided that nothing would stop him from finding Gosunkugi. He continued into the forest and was surprised to find that it was not as active as he would have thought. He found a small stream in the middle of the forest where he decided to camp for a couple of days. He had been marching for about 6 days and he had not stopped. He had a fire going and was starting to cook the fish he had caught earlier over the flames when he saw a shadow illuminated due to the fire. He then heard a twig snap in half and he drew his sword. He walked around the camp in a 360 degree sweep and then walked back to the fire.

He ducked as he heard the whistling sound of a Kunai flying at him. He turned around just in time to deflect 3 more with his sword. He then saw 2 men coming at him one with a huge club and the other was armed with Kunai. He knew he could not take on the club with his sword because the club would snap the sword like a twig. He dived out of the way as the club hit the fire causing burning logs to fly everywhere. Sazanami dived and grabbed one of the burning logs and swung it at the clubbed assailant. The Clubbed man shouted in pain as the burning end of the log struck him in the face. But as he was doing this a kunai shot past his face cutting and 1 long quarter of an inch deep wound on the left side of his face and he shouted in pain. He then felt the club hit him in the stomach but he did not let it bother him. He grabbed his sword and stabbed the clubbed man in the chest and then shielded a barrage of Kunai with the clubbed man's dead body. He then charged at the other man and blocked all of the attacks until he was able to cut the man's head clean off ending the fight.

Sazanami knew that word had spread of his quest to capture Sazanami but he did not let this attack on his life deter him. He had forgotten all about the fish and even though it was burnt beyond recognition he still had to eat it in order to keep up his strength. He ate his dinner and then went to sleep and the next day continued his journey yet again. He then came to a river that was the biggest river in stone country. It actually separated the eastern half from the western half. He knew he would have to cross it to continue his journey. He knew that once he passed there would be know turning back because only citizens of the east were allowed to enter the west and then leave again. If a citizen of the west left he or she would not be able to go back in. Half way across the bridge he saw 2 men standing at the western end with swords in their hands. He knew that this was another ambush on his life.

Sazanami saw the men charge at him and with a quick movement he pulled out his sword and blocked one of the men's attacks while spinning around to block the other mans attack. He blocked each of their blows with his own and dove and dipped to avoid being hit with blade. He saw one of the men jump up in the air and bring his sword down in front of him in a vertical motion. Sazanami dodged out of the way but the end of the blade still managed to make a diagonal scar across his face. He grabbed the other man's arm and broke it at the elbow before realizing that he was able to fight with both arms. The 2nd man charged at him and he dodged to the side caught the man's arm and brought his hand down in a chopping breaking the man's arm. He then grabbed the man's sword and began to fight back with it. He blocked each of the men's assaults with his 2 swords and finally managed to stab the first man and then went for the kill on the other man. The other man jumped off the bridge before he could be killed and found himself being carried away by the water.


	2. Leaf Genin and The Thief

Sazanami knew he was going the right way because of the assaults on his life. He continued for about a week before he came to a man that, for the first time, since he had left on his journey to find Gosunkugi, didn't want to kill him. He sat down next to man who appeared to be deep in thought. "He old man what are you doing in the path?" "Gosunkugi has sent me hear to tell you to lay off your quest to find him." The man answered as he pulled out a canteen of water from his pant. After he took a swig of the water he handed it to Sazanami who graciously accepted it as Sazanami was taking a sip the old man began again.

"You see there is a long story to why the man steals so many things but I do not want to explain them to you. All I can tell you is that if you want to meet him then you must follow my advice you must stop making it obvious that you are trailing him. You know those other 4 men that you have killed?" The old man asked. Sazanami nodded his head.

"They were 4 bounties that heard that you were a bounty hunter. They have nothing to do with Gosunkugi. You have been following the path to Leaf Village or at least fired Country but the problem is you need to cross back the river and turn around. You know of the border town located in the north? That is where my master is located you will find him there." " Thank you kind sir for all of your assistance, you have been of great help." With that he walked away but right as he had not made it any more then 5 steps he found a knife slicing across his face.

He continued his journey taking no interest in his attackers. He had continued for only a day before he came to the border town. As he walked into a bar he saw three younger children with the headbands of the village hidden in the leaf. Sazanami realizing who they were walked over to them with a smile on his face and extended his hand to greet them. They were shocked with his action but Kiba shook his hand none the less. "Who the hell are you stranger?" asked Naruto. Sazanami didn't know why they were their but he knew he needed their help. Sazanami was about to answer when a black haired black bearded man walked through the front door of the bar with 4 huge men behind him.

Naruto saw that the man that was leading the 4 muscular men was the one that he and his team had been looking for. Without thinking he charged forward towards the man with Black hair. The black haired thief took a step back and the 4 men stepped in front of him like body guards. One of them grabbed Naruto and threw him back. Gosunkugi turned and fled back. The 4 men marched forwards towards Naruto and his team and one of them brought his fist down to hit Naruto but Sazanami with shot forward and with and upward blow with his elbow knocked the man out. He then saw another man bringing his fist towards Kiba and he used an upward blow from his arm to block the 2nd man's attack before knocking the wind out of him with a punch to the stomach.

The 3rd man charged towards Sazanami and with a quick punch Sazanami knocked the man back into a bar. The 3rd man was not as weak as the other 2 and he brought his fist into Sazanami's stomach. Sazanami felt the pain and grabbed his arm and then with a upward motion flipped the man over his head. When the man had landed on the grounded he brought his foot down on the man's head and knocked him out. The 4th man kicked at Sazanami with a vertical motion but caught the leg and twisted it causing the whole body to twist around and the man's side slammed into a table he then knocked him out with another kick to the face. Seeing the fact that he was so much stronger then the 3 children decided that he would not use their help.

Naruto seeing this instantly became captivated by the man. He ran over to the man and started to ask him many questions. Naruto then revealed why the 3 leaf Genin were there in Stone Country. He knew that the quest was his own and he hit himself for ever thinking that he needed help. "Hey you two over there why don't you come with me in my quest to capture the thief?" asked Sazanami and acknowledging him the 2 came over and behind Naruto they followed him out of the village. When they were outside of the village Sazanami punched Naruto in the face and knocked him out. He then turned to Kiba and with a kick to the face knocked him out. He then punched Hinata in the stomach and the attack knocked her out.

"Good bye young ninja." He said quietly before and he turned and continued his journey. He looked at the map that he had taken off the blond ninja and read it carefully apparently he was coming unto a canyon which was about 3 day's journey away. He stopped for dinner on only one of the 3 nights and finally after 3 days he finally made it to the Canyon. He knew that he had a good chance of capturing Gatsu. He entered the Canyon and saw the black hair of the thief in front of him. He grabbed the sword out of his sheath and as soon as he had it raised in the air an arrow shot past him. "You are foolish blacksmith for coming after me." A deep voice muttered that seemed to be coming from right in front of him."

The man turned around and raised his hand that showed 3 inch long nails on each finger of both his hands. The thief charged at him and they began to fight. The thief cut the blacksmith in the arm and then punched him in the stomach causing him bleed in that area of the torso also. The blacksmith was to busy fighting with the archers surrounding him in the canyon to see the thief come behind him and with a swift movement he punched the blacksmith in the back and then extended his hand and the nails cut deep into his back. He fell to the ground and pain and was not able to move. The thief fled and with signal from his hand the men surrounding the canyon followed.

Sazanami sat down and laid his back against the wall of the canyon in a place that was soft due to it being covered by a thick layer of moss. As he laid there and apologized in his mind to everyone whom he had told he was going to kill the thief. Right as he was about to black out he saw an orange arm reach out and grab him by the neck he then saw a fist come towards his face and the he turned to see a dog bite unto the orange arm and the arm pulled back. He finally blacked out just as a he felt a soft feminine hand touching him on the shoulder. He woke up 4 hours later to see a fire burning and the 3 young ninja sitting there with their hands close to the fire trying to gather warmth. He then looked up and with a weak voice he asked, "What are you doing here?" "We have come to help you with your quest as we have told you before." The blond replied.

"That is my quest to capture the thief." Kiba the boy with the dog stepped forward and with a deep voice asked, "Why are you so interested in capturing this thief?" Sazanami pointed to the ground in a way to say 'Sit down and I will tell you." The 3 ninja sat down and Sazanami recounted the story of how he was hired to make the sword for the man and when he got to his house he had found him and his wife and daughter dead. He then told them how he had vowed to get revenge. "That is a sad story." said Hinata giving her point of view on it. "Even if all this has happened you still have to stay behind because you are too weak." "No I will not this is my fight." He argued as he tried to stand up but he fell right back down. By the time Naruto and the Gang had left it had become day time. Naruto and his friends greeted farewell to the man and they continued off on their own quest to capture the thief.


End file.
